The inventors of this invention have conducted various studies of the saliva secreted by the larvae of various kinds of wasps belonging to the genus Vespa and have already proved that the nutritive liquid originated from the wasps can control the formation of substances involved in the fatigues, prevent the reduction of the blood sugar level and improve the capacity of locomotion, during exercise (see Patent Document 1 specified below). The inventors of this invention have further proved that the working mechanism of the same is to promote the conversion of body fat into the energy required for exercise (see Non-Patent Document 1 specified below). It has also been suggested that the VAAM (Vespa Amino Acid Mixture) as the principal component of the nutritive liquid has a variety of effects such as the recovery from the fatigues accompanied by the physical exercise, in addition to the foregoing effects (see, Patent Document Nos. 2 to 5 specified below).
On the other hand, it has been well known that the physical exhaustion due to the physical exercise would result in the significant destruction or loss of the amino acid balance in the blood (see Non-Patent Document 2 specified below). It has been believed that this would be caused as a result of the weariness and destruction of the body tissues due to the stresses associated with the physical exercise. However, there has not yet been focused on the physiological meanings and significance thereof until now.
The inventors of this invention have further investigated the blood amino acid concentration observed after the practice of exercise and the amino acid composition of VAAM and have thus found that the amino acid composition of VAAM has an extremely high correlation with the blood amino acids whose concentrations are reduced in proportion to the fatigues due to the practice of exercise. In other words, it has been proved that the amino acids, which are reduced in considerably high rates due to the fatigue, are included in VAAM in proportional higher amounts. Accordingly, it would be recognized that the supplementation of these amino acids is indispensable to the improvement of the motor functions and the recovery from the fatigues (see Patent Document 6 specified below). On the other hand, it has likewise been proved that trehalose can markedly increase the concentration of non-esterified fatty acid (NEFA) in the mouse serum during the movement thereof (see Patent Document 7 specified below). In this respect, the nutritive liquid of the wasps contains trehalose in a substantial amount (see Non-Patent Document 3 specified below). Thus, it has been found that the simultaneous administration of trehalose and VAAM permits the more intensive improvement of the motor functions (see Patent Document 8 specified below).
As has been discussed above, VAAM may serve to promote the process for converting the body fat into the energy required for the movement or exercise under the aerobic continuous motion. This function of VAAM would be quite effective for the motions over a long period of time such as a marathon race, but it is not always effective for the strong motional loads within a quite short period of time. For this reason, there has been a need for the development of an amino acid mixture which would be more effective for such high-load motions within a quite short period of time.
Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent No. 2,518,692;
Patent Document 2: Japanese Un-Examined Patent Publication (hereunder referred to as “JP-A”) Hei 4-95026;
Patent Document 3: JP-A-Hei 4-112825;
Patent Document 4: JP-A-Hei 6-336426
Patent Document 5: JP-A-Hei 6-336432
Patent Document 6: JP-A-Hei 9-249556 (US-BA-6224861; EP-B1-873754);
Patent Document 7: JP-A-Hei 5-186353
Patent Document 8: JP-A-2000-72669 (US-BA-6287757; EP-A1-983726);
Non-Patent Document 1: ABE et al., Jap. J. Physical Fitness & Sports Med., 1995, 44:225;
Non-Patent Document 2: T. Bazzarre et al., J. Am. Collage Nutr., 1992, 11:501-511;
Non-Patent Document 3: ABE et al., Comp. Biochem. Physiol., 1991, 99C:79.